Former leading New Zealand publisher and bookseller, and widely experienced judge of both the Commonwealth Writers Prize and the Montana New Zealand Book Awards, talks about what he is currently reading, what impresses him and what doesn't, along with chat about the international English language book scene, and links to sites of interest to booklovers.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

The Jealous Kind - James Lee Burke

Orion Books - $34.99

From New York Times bestselling author James Lee Burke -
an atmospheric, coming-of-age story set in 1952 Texas, as the Korean War rages.

On its surface, life in Houston is as you would expect:
drive-in restaurants, souped-up cars, jukeboxes, teenagers discovering their
sexuality. But beneath the glitz and superficial normalcy, a class war has
begun, and it is nothing like the conventional portrayal of the decade. Against
this backdrop Aaron Holland Broussard discovers the poignancy of first love and
a world of violence he did not know existed. When Aaron spots the beautiful and
gifted Valerie Epstein fighting with her boyfriend, Grady Harrelson, at a
Galveston drive-in, he inadvertently challenges the power of the Mob and one of
the richest families in Texas. He also discovers he must find the courage his
father had found as an American soldier in the Great War.

Written in evocative prose, The Jealous Kind may prove to be
James Lee Burke's most encompassing work yet. As Aaron undergoes his harrowing
evolution from boy to man, we can't help but recall the inspirational and
curative power of first love and how far we would go to protect it.